Deceased
by Slenderbrine
Summary: Cliques are typical to form in a school. Popular befriends popular. Nerdy befriends nerdy. Jock befriends jock. Who says social outcasts with superpowers must be any different? [Rewrite of what is now Proto-Deceased!]
1. Haunt 1-1

**Haunt 1.1**

"Welcome to your new home," the man said. He was big and burly, nearly reaching six feet tall. White tuxedo and black-tinted glasses made the man look intimidating, though his conversation partner didn't seem to show any fear. The kid across from the man was just barely shorter than the latter, capping out at five-foot-six. A pale hand swiped the key out of the outstretched arm of the agent.

"Thanks," the kid said, pocketing the key. He dragged his hand through his messy black hair, taking in the small house. It was a one-story house, with two bedrooms (with a bathroom for each), a kitchen, a dining room, and a den/foyer. It was just barely more than a glorified-apartment in square-footage.

Not counting the basement, of course.

The kid turned to pin his hard, light blue eyes on the white-wearing man. "Anything else to be aware of, Agent M?"

The man, Agent M, nodded, and pulled out a manilla envelope. He handed it to the teen with a smirk. "You have been enrolled into Winslow High. Due to your innumerable tardies and failed grades, you will have to repeat tenth grade, Daniel."

"Ancients damn it!" 'Daniel' swore. "And I said, call me Danny. If we're gonna be working on an alliance, than call me by the name everyone else does."

"Understood, _Danny_ ," the agent said, trying out the name. "Well, you and your sister should settle in. The other agents still have to relocate the other residents, and have them sign the waivers."

The agent made for the door, only to be stopped by Danny's hand on Agent M's shoulder. "And my parents?" he asked. "How are they?"

"Inventors Alpha and Beta are performing wonderfully," the man wearing shades said, with neutral implications. "Some of their more recent work can be used to power civilians' lives for free and can help protect them from capes."

"Capes…" Danny trailed off, hand returning to its body's side; but Agent M still didn't move. "Surprising how Amity Park was so isolated from the rest of the world, isn't it?"

"Yes," Agent M agreed, "but that makes Operation Crypt easier, doesn't it?"

"Yeah. It does," Danny said. "See you around, Agent." He took that as his cue, and the Guy in White left Danny to his own devices.

 **[][][][][]**

"New city, new life, new start," Jazz said. Danny's older sister had a psychology book open and was studying the contents. She was wearing her normal black sweater and blue pants. Her hair was kept out of her face with the blue headband Danny rarely saw her without.

"Jazz, we just got here and the first thing you do is study?" Danny complained. His entire attitude shifted since his meeting with the departed agent. His body stance was relaxed, his eyes had lightened, and a content smile was fixed above his chin, despite the moans and groans.

"Education waits for no man," Jazz said.

"That's time," Danny replied. "Trust me; Clockwork doesn't wait up for anyone."

Jazz huffed and buried herself deeper into her book.

"Well," Danny said, tossing the manilla folder onto the table, "I have to retake sophomore year."

Jazz picked up the manilla folder, wiping her mind clean of the book her major was about beneath her, and read through the his transcripts. "My tardiness and grades finally caught up to me," he said.

Jazz's eyes were narrowed. "Why Winslow?" Jazz asked Danny, without looking up. "I've heard nothing but trouble sleeps in that school."

"Well, they couldn't put me in Arcadia," Danny explained. "Living in a super-sized coat closet, but going to a rich school, with these grades? Not going to happen. And the only other possible school is a Christian school, Immaculata. And I'm _so_ religious…" he trailed off, his point made.

Jazz conceded, "Alright. Just promise me you'll be careful?"

"I promised," Danny said. At that moment, his phone began to buzz. He took it out and saw that his alarm was going off. _Group Chat!_ was buzzing its way across the screen.

"I'm going to talk to Sam and Tuck," Danny said. Jazz had already lowered her head back into her book and was drowning out the world around her. "Uh-huh," she mumbled half-heartedly. Danny ran up to his room, closed the door, and pulled his laptop out of his bag. It was a Portable Fenton Laptop, or PFL. With interdimensional WiFi capabilities, titanium plating, and firewalls created by Tucker Foley himself, it was one of the three best laptops in the world. Guess who had the other two?

As soon as he had flipped open the screen, two other faces appeared on-screen. On the left was an African-American face, yellow sweater and backwards beret. Behind him was the pale yellow color of an unpainted wall in a new home. His glasses reflected lines of code that he was typing away at on his PDA.

On the right side of the screen was a beautiful, black-haired angel (not that he would ever say such out loud) dressed in a gothic outfit. She was reclining on a bed with blindingly pink sheets contrasted against a typical black wall ‒ for her, at least. Her black hair was gathered in a ponytail, and her lips were painted a deep purple. Her face cheered up from a scowl half a second after he opened his laptop.

"Danny!" her voice exclaimed. "It's about time!"

"Yeah, Sam was getting worried about her boyfriend," the black teen teased.

"She's/He's not my girlfriend/boyfriend!" they yelled at the same time. They looked at each other's window and blushed.

"Mm-hm," he said.

"Tucker, I swear to God…" Sam swore under her breath. His techy friend was enjoying being a large distance away from Sam's steel-tipped boots.

"So!" Danny interjected. "Capes!" 

And with that, the group chat turned serious. Attention turned to Tucker, who was the online researcher extraordinaire. "So, the first instance of capes ever was back on May 20th, 1982. A golden and naked man appeared over a cruise ship, cured some of the people onboard, and flew off. Over the years he began collecting clothing and becoming a real hero; saving people, stopping the Cold War, and other things. In 1999, he was extinguishing a burning town in Russia when a reporter asked for his name, to which he replied as 'Scion'. After Scion's first appearance, capes began popping up everywhere, and we now live in a world populated by capes.

"How come we never heard any of this in Amity Park?" Danny asked. With so much of this going on, it was a wonder that they never once heard of this.

Tucker shrugged. "Paranormal activity had been around even longer in Amity Park, dating all the way back to the early 1800s. Besides that, the weakness of the barrier between the real world and the Ghost Zone often either disrupted radio/TV waves or sucked them into the Ghost Zone. That's why we broadcasted our own things from within the town. The weakness in the barrier also worked as a weak 'go-away' shield, subconsciously keeping people away from Amity Park. We were literally a ghost town to the rest of the world."

"So, the Ghost Zone basically isolated us from the rest of the world?" Sam asked. "Is that why Pariah Dark was able to easily rip it out of the material world?"

"Probably, Tucker said. "Even if he never did, I suspect something of that nature would've even occurred naturally over the years; maybe in about half a century, even."

"What about the last thing?" Danny asked, voice falling flat. "Endbringers." His voice was practically monotone.

Tucker nodded solemnly, "In the Marun Fields in Iran, on December 13, 1992, a massive monster emerged out of the ground. It was fought and it killed, but it was barely hurt, This entity became known as Behemoth, as one of the three Endbringers."

"Now _there's_ an ominous name," Sam muttered.

Tucker continued, "Leviathan, from the sea, and the Simurgh, from space, joined what is infamously known as the Herokiller later. Though the Endbringers always retreat, they are not always beaten. The most infamous example is Kyushu, an island of Japan. It caused Japan to be reduced from a first-world power to a third-world country overnight."

"Is there any pattern?" Sam asked, attention shifting to her. "There must be a reason for their attacks, right?"

Tucker shrugged. "If there is a pattern, no one has found it before. No one has been able to keep up with an Endbringer…"

"Until me," Danny concluded, taking Tucker's look as his cue. It was true enough. He could fly intangibly through water and had enough stamina and power to keep it up for nearly an hour. No one had a better chance than he did. But that being said...

"Are you willing to try and track an Endbringer, knowing that you could've saved people?" Sam asked, quiet. Danny shook his head. "No," he replied, "but I can save people while staying on the Endbringer's tail."

"Great," Sam said. "Now, just one more thing." She leaned into the camera, eyes narrowed. "Stay out of the superpowered politics, Danny. No need to look for trouble."

"I don't look for trouble," Danny whined.

"Yeah," Tucker agreed, and Danny smiled at the support of his best friend. "Trouble looks for him." Danny frowned, and his other two friends laughed.

"Alright, I have to go," Tucker said. "I'm going to look around my new town. Washington D.C. is an interesting place."

"Try not to hack into any government agencies, Tuck," Danny joked. Tucker raised his hand, showing his fingers crossed. "No promises!" he laughed, and closed out of the chat.

"Well," Sam said, "I'm going to explore my new town, too. See you later, Danny."

"Bye Sam. Enjoy Boston," Danny said, and Sam logged off. He sighed, and closed his modified laptop. He shoved it into his bag and jumped into bed. He turned his head to the side. _9:57_ , the digital clock read. _'Time for sleep,'_ Danny thought, and fell into the realm of Nocturne.

 **[][][][][]**

 **[A/N]: Welcome to the new Deceased, Phans and Wormies! Typical disclaimer, I don't own anything, blah, blah, blah. This takes place just before the start of Worm and after all Danny Phantom series, but, obviously,** _ **Phantom Planet**_ **never happened, nor the episode where Technus took over the digital world. Not yet, at least. Or will it ever? IDK. And this chapter, like many others, will be and has been beta-ed by the magnificent** _ **Mysterymuffin2**_ **! Enjoy!**

 **~Slenderbrine**


	2. Haunt 1-2

**Haunt 1.2**

Brrrring! Brrring! Brri-

Danny smashed the top of the alarm clock, silencing the mechanism from dungeons of Pariah's Keep. He sat up, stretching, ready to start the day. Or, dreading it, rather. Being the 'new kid' at school wasn't ever fun. Danny pushed off the covers, stood up, and made his way to the shower.

Today was the start of something new, anyways.

 **[][][][][]**

Or not, actually. Winslow High looked like Casper High, if not a bit more unclean and trouble-filled. Danny walked through the halls, eyeing the numerous gangsters here. Tucker informed him of the three major gangs in the city: Empire 88, the ABB, and the Merchants. Empire 88 was neo-Nazi gang led by the parahuman Kaiser, who had the ability to manipulate metal to his will, like Magneto from the old comics. The '88' of the name most likely corresponded to their alphabetical values, 'HH', which stood for 'Heil Hitler'. As mention, the Empire (or E88) was neo-Nazi, targeting minority races and recruiting white-skinned people only. Most recognized by their bald/shaven heads. And there was _no_ way that there were this many people at Winslow.

Foil to the E88 was the ABB, or the 'Azn Bad Boys'. When Danny asked what 'Azn' means, Tucker told him it was just a shortened form of 'Asian'. Which was stupid, but whatever. He wasn't Lung, the pyrokinetic parahuman leader of the ABB. It was also said that the longer Lung fought for, and the angrier he grew, the more he transformed. Into what? A dragon, of course. Aragon should totally sure Lung for taking his thing.

Besides that, the ABB was just an Asian form of the E88: picking on any and every race that wasn't Asian. However, unlike the E88, the ABB was known to sell white girls as prostitutes in foreign countries. It was a miracle people survived here, to be honest. The ABB kids were the Asians with red and green bands and such; the ABB colors.

The last group Tucker told him about, before arriving here at Winslow, was the Merchants; the dregs of the society. Not even the other villains liked them. The Merchants were a cancer, passing drugs around like a disease, and being honestly unwanted. Why the PRT hadn't already tried to clear out the Merchants, Danny wasn't sure. But it was a constant itch in the back of his mind to transform and clean the streets, if the Protectorate wouldn't do it. The Merchants were usually just any druggie you happened to find.

"Sir, are you here for something?" When Danny refocused his mind, he noticed he was stood in front of the desk with a shiny plaque that said "Vice Principal".

"Hi, I'm a new student here for my schedule," Danny said, handing over the paperwork required. The lady behind the desk quickly learned through the papers, making sure the signatures were all filled out. She smiled at the teen and pointed to the principal's door. "Mrs. Blackwell will see you now."

Danny thanked her, and opened the door. There, behind the desk, was a skinny woman, with blonde hair pulled back into a bun, and wore pitch black business attire, as though later she would go nap in a coffin. The strict-looking woman looked up at him, and smiled, but it was obviously strained and irritated at his sudden appearance to Danny. "Hello, there," Mrs. Blackwell greeted, "and you are?"

"Hello, ma'am," Danny said, "I'm Danny Fenton. I'm the new student from Illinois?"

The principal stared off into the space behind him, trying to recall it, and her eyes brightened when she did. "Ah, yes, Mr. Fenton. I have your schedule right here," she said. Principal Blackwell bent into a drawer and pulled out a white slip of paper. "Given that first period is ending, head on to your second period," the woman instructed. Danny thanked her, and left.

2nd period turned out to be Calculus, with Mr. Benson, a tall man with short, brown hair and excited green eyes behind his glasses in his late 20s. Mr. Benson was kind enough, but showed that he also "wouldn't take shit from nobody", as he said with the hint of a redneck twang buried in his voice. Danny liked the man, and respected him.

3rd period was English II with Mrs. Fortuna, an Italian woman with shoulder-length black hair and brilliantly turquoise eyes. Danny's couldn't determine her age, as she looked you, but she was clearly experienced in dealing with kids and teaching. Good genes, He supposed.

Fourth period, the period before lunch, the most… _productive_ class, but not in the best way. The class was World issues class, where they were beginning the section of something Danny was in dire need of information: capes.

"Capes!" Mr. Gladly shouted. He was an animated man that was short and young-looking enough to believe that he barely got out of college, or was a highschool student himself. To further that idea, he encouraged people to call him "Mr. G", acting like an A-lister.

"Capes came into existence on May 20th, 1982, when the first cape appeared: Scion!" Mr. Gladly quoted, reading along the textbook. "Since then, numerous heroes and villains appeared, under the unbiased and collected name of 'capes', have influenced the world in a number of ways!

"Today, you'll work in groups and discuss how capes have affected Brockton Bay since their conception, from topics concerning the shipping trade to economics, sharing the ideas you came up with last night," he said. Well, shit. "I'll be assigning you by groups, so don't try and plead & beg for a member change!"

The teacher began going off seemingly at random, assigning groups that could only be formed through the will of the teacher. Finally, after about half of the kids in the class were grouped he said, "Sparky Jefferson, Julia Summerset, Taylor Hebert, and…"

His eyes passed right over a blond-haired kid bouncing up and down in his seat, onto me. "...and our new kid, Daniel Fenton," he said. I coughed, and said, aloud, "Danny, please."

"Danny Fenton," he repeated, nodding. I slung my double-sided purple backpack onto my shoulder, and pulled up a desk where Taylor had scooted her desk over to Sparky. Julia seemed upset, pulling her desk into the opposite corner of our square from Taylor. As Julia turned to Mr. Gladly, it seemed apparent that even Sparky, who looked as high as a kite, could feel the tension between the two girls, as his eyes moved between the two females.

"Mr. G?" she asked, using his nickname, "Can I join Madison's group?"

"Sorry, Julia," Mr. Gladly shrugged, "Not this time." The girl pouted and folded her arms over her chest, glaring at Taylor. The one being glared at, simply ignored her. Taylor took out a notebook, opened to a new page, and pulled up a pencil. "Does anyone have any ideas?" Her voice sounded resigned, like a prisoner coming to terms with their new life. It was _not_ was a tenth grader should sound like.

Or maybe it was. To be fair, Danny was pretty bummed out that he had to repeat tenth grade, himself.

"Nah, sorry," Danny apologized, before anyone could speak. "I just moved here from out-of-state," he explained. "Didn't know about any homework."

"Well, you could at least contribute an idea," Julia said. Her voice was prissy and prim; he could understand why Taylor resented her, he supposed. But not why she sent Julia that glare.

Danny shrugged it off. "Didn't really have capes back at home," he explained. "Never actually heard of them 'til we left."

Julia slammed her palms on the desk surface, causing Taylor to jump, Danny to flinch, and Sparky to roll his eyes over in her direction. Somewhere in his subconscious, he was beginning to increase the chances that Sparky was a Merchant, if not just a regular customer. "You've never heard of capes until now?" she interrogated. "Where did you live? Under a rock?"

"Umm…" Danny trailed off. "Kind of?" Iron comes from a rock, right? And he lived under that Fenton sign for so many years…

"Julia?" Mr. Gladly asked, appearing over his shoulder. "What seems to be the problem?"

"Danny's never heard of capes before!" she yelled, pointing at him, like she was ratting him out. The entire class quieted, save whispers and murmurs as everyone stared at him, sans Sparky, who was staring… _somewhere_ and Taylor, who was shrinking into her seat. Danny followed her example.

"You've never heard of capes before?" Mr. Gladly asked. Danny nodded, uncomfortable to the amount of stares he was getting. "Where did you live, then?"

"U-u-uh," he stammered. "That's classified?" he said. Or asked? He was caught on the fly. For all his ghost powers, 'lying well' was not one of them, nor would it ever be.

Mr. Gladly looked at him for a few more seconds, before laughing and slapping him on the back. "Sure you haven't, Danny," he said, shaking his head. "Just remember, people who look for attention usually get the wrong kind." Mr. Gladly, apparently, was trying to give 'wise sage advice'. He could take some notes from Clockwork.

As Mr. Gladly walked away, the class chatter started back up again, though Danny could still feel some people trying to drill holes in the back of his head with their eyes. He shook his head as Taylor began writing some last minute things on her notebook.

"You wanna read what I wrote?" Taylor asked. Danny nodded, and she handed him her homework, and Danny looked over it. _'Leviathan screwed the shipping industry, and the Simurgh killed the space race...where was she when_ I _went to space?'_ he wondered. He began to memorize it, saving everything in his mind before looking up at the author of the paper.

"This is...really well done, Taylor," Danny complemented, and Taylor blushed under the praise. "Lemme see," Julia said, and he handed it to her just as Taylor got up to warn him. Danny turned to look at Taylor, whose blush turned into the love child of a frown and a snarl, as Julia read through the notebook, ripped off the paper, and handed it through a line of feminine hands until it landed in the hands of a petite girl with shoulder-length brown hair wearing a strapless top and a denim skirt.

"Give that back," Taylor said, standing up.

"Give what back?" Julia asked, oh so innocently. Danny could see where the tension was coming from now…

"Madison," Taylor said, ignoring Julia's existence, "give it back."

The petite girl, _Madison_ , apparently, glanced at Taylor with a condescending tone and look he'd expect from a nasty seventy-year-old woman that lived alone in her house. "Nobody was talking to you, Taylor," she said.

Taylor sat down and clenched her fist, instead of running off to get the teacher like he might expect. _Now_ Danny understood the prisoner simile his mind came up with earlier.

"Sorry 'bout that," Danny apologized, and Taylor shook her head. "Wasn't your fault," she said. "I'm used to it." He frowned, before looking towards the bullies, and back to Taylor, before remembering his memory. Pfft.

"I'll make it up to you," Danny promised, giving a wink. Taylor mustered up half a smile, but it looked more like a grimace. Time passed with Taylor doodling in her notebook, Sparky staring off into space, Julia on her phone, and Danny mentally reviewing what he had read.

Finally, Mr. Gladly announced, "Alright! Which group wants to go first?" Danny's hand shot up, much to the surprise of Taylor and Julia. Sparky's eyes twitched; at best.

"Alrighty then, Capeless," Mr. Gladly chuckled at the nickname he came up with, and Danny had to resist the urge to groan, but managed to stand up at the front of the classroom without so much as a whimper.

"Start whenever you're ready," Mr. Gladly announced, leaning against the back wall of the classroom. Danny nodded, closed his eyes, and began.

"Capes have been around since May 20, 1982," he recited. "That was the day Scion appeared over a cruise ship, performing multiple miracles before speeding off. Later, people with superpowers started to appear, becoming known collectively, good or bad, as capes. These capes began to come together to form hero teams and villainous leagues, the two most famous examples being the Triumvirate and the Slaughterhouse Nine." Danny heard a few gasps and mutters at the mention of the serial killers.

He went on, "Ten years after the first cape sighting, a new threat appeared: Endbringers. The first being Behemoth, the Herokiller, in Marun Field, Iran in 1992. Then Leviathan in Oslo, Norway in 1996. Lastly, the Simurgh, or Ziz, in Shanghai, China in 2002. These monstrous beasts cannot be killed, as of now, and have been wreaking havoc physically and economically."

Danny went on and talked about Leviathan's destruction of shipping by water, and how the ports in Brockton Bay were closed and the Boat Graveyard was born. How the ABB, the Merchants, the Empire, Marquis' Gang, the Teeth, and every other super gang invaded the city. Thinkers in casinos, Masters in the public offices, Tinker tech in modern day society. Everything written in the pages of the Taylor's notes, before coming to a conclusion. He opened his eyes, to see the class staring at him, mouths on the floor, and flies suicide bombing into blank faces. Well, not Sparky; he looked like that from the start of the period.

Taylor began clapping, causing another to start up, and another, and soon the whole room was clapping, teacher and students in all, sans Madison's group and Julia.

"Mr. Gladly!" Madison yelled, holding up the written papers, "Danny cheated off of me!"

The aforementioned teacher walked over to the girl and picked up the papers, reading through them. Danny saw Taylor's face fall.

"Danny," he asked, "is this true?"

The student shook his head, and swiped the papers out Mr. Gladly's hands. "While it's true I memorized the words off these papers," Danny said, seeing Madison and Julia smiling in his peripheral vision, "I spoke the words my group came up with."

Mr. Gladly put his hand out, clearly expecting him to return the papers. "Danny, those are Madison's papers," he said.

"Nope," Danny popped the 'p' sound. "They're Taylor's." He placed the papers on the Taylor's desk.

"Taylor?" Gladly asked, and Taylor looked up at him. "Are these papers your's?"

She hesitated a moment, before nodding slowly. "She's lying!" Madison and Julia lied in unison, and a bunch of other girls began to speak up against the Hebert and Fenton duo.

Mr. Gladly looked nervous, glancing between the girls and Danny/Taylor. "It's their words against your's," he commented, and, once again, Danny shrugged.

"Well, if it _is_ Madison's paper," he supposed, walking over to the girl in question with his hands behind his back and a smirk on his face, "then perhaps she can explain to us why _her_ paper is written in _Taylor's_ handwriting?"

Danny took great pride in Madison's face paling. He knew he shouldn't but… he blamed in on his ghost side's emotional hunger. All the ghost's fault.

"Madison," Gladly warned, narrowing his eyes, "is this true?"

Madison stiffened and, rather than continuing to dig her ostrich hole, she nodded in submission. Mr. Gladly let out a gasp; a real, honest-to-God gasp. "Madison!" he admonished. "You should be ashamed! You will be spending lunch with me today!" Madison's face showed fear, but her shoulders slumped in what was probably relief. Lunch detention with Gladly wasn't as bad as it sounded, was it?

"You girls as well," he said, pointing at Julia and her cohorts. They nodded, and glared in Danny's direction. He just shrugged; haters gonna hate.

The bell rang, and Gladly yelled out, "Read pages 223 through 227 in the textbook! We'll finish presentations tomorrow! Girls, stay with me!" As people packed up, Danny saw Taylor look down and leave quickly, behind the girls with lunch detentions, who apparently went to go get lunch and come back. In the meantime, Danny went up to Mr. Gladly, who was organizing his papers.

He started, "Mr. Gladly-"

"Mr. G," he corrected. "Mr. Gladly was my father." He let out a chuckle, and, rather than groan, put up with it for my suspicions.

"Mr. G," Danny tried again, "what's the deal with the other girls and Taylor Hebert?"

Instantly, Mr. Gladly's mood sombered. He sighed, picking up a pencil and twirling it in his hands. "Taylor Hebert, Capeless," he said, insisting on that nickname (not as bad as Inviso-Bill, though), "is being bullied."

Danny's eyes widened in shock. Gladly nodded, before answering his unasked question. "No, I can't do anything until Taylor, the victim, comes up to me and confesses. School policy; to stop past incidents of anonymous bully claiming to get people into trouble. I know she's being bullied by the other girls, but unless she comes to a teacher and speaks up, we can't help her."

"What the heck!?" Danny exclaimed. "That's screwed up!"

Mr. Gladly nodded. "I would if I could, but teaching is the only job I've been good at; I can connect to kids; at least some of them, on some level. I would love to stop it on my own, but that could get me in trouble and…" The teacher trailed off, but Danny understood him just fine.

"But you… you stood up for her today," Mr. Gladly commended. Danny smiled and rubbed the back of his head. "Just, keep an eye out for Ms. Hebert, alright, Capeless?"

Danny's lips twisted. Mr. Gladly wasn't _all_ bad. "Sure thing," he said, before deciding to add, "Mr. G, sir."

Danny felt the glow of Gladly's smile on his back as he left the classroom, get snuffed by the sneer of the black girl in front of him in the hall. Madison and another girl were off to the side, laughing at Taylor. The black girl looked at Danny with promises of unpleasant things in her eyes.

"We need to have a little chat," she said, with a predatory grin.

 **[][][][][]**

 **[A/N]: WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS, WHAT DO YOU DO? YOU SQUIRT THEM INTO LIFE'S EYES!**

 **IF THERE IS NO DOOR OPEN TO YOU, THEN YOU MUST MAKE ONE!**

 **IF LIFE THROWS A BREAK-UP, DEPRESSION, AND MIDTERMS IN BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR STORY, WHAT DO YOU DO?! YOU GET OVER IT AND TYPE!**

 **But seriously, readers, sorry for my long delay. Again, a break-up, some depression, midterms, and a small handful of other craptastic events delayed me, but here I am, with another chapter! And, before you spam my reviews, yeah, this isn't perfectly canon (no shit, it's a crossover). So what's up with Gladly?**

 **Well...don't get mad...but...i'mgonnamakeGladlyadecentguy. Yeah… he's gonna appear again and again, with character development as well. But hey! It's my story, and I'm the primordial god of this universe! (there are people in a certain Discord chat weeping at the mere thought XP)**

 **But I digress! I will try to upload _at least_ once per 2 weeks (but don't hold it against me if I miss a deadline; shit happens). So, I wish all of my favoriters, followers, and my beta, _Mysterymuffin2_ , a Happy New Years!**

 **~Slenderbrine**


	3. Haunt 1-3

**Haunt 1.3**

" _We need to have a little chat," she said, with a predatory grin._

There were a number of things Danny could do here. The first and foremost instinct? Run, cower, flee, pick one, any one. It was the pattern he was most used to and, despite the girl being three inches shorter than him, he could easily see the muscle the girl had. An athlete, obviously. Another school, another A-lister.

But that was the thing. This _was_ another school, so he didn't have to keep pretending to be weak. He could stand up for himself, and for others as Danny _Fenton_ , not Danny Phantom. And he would curse himself to the Unworld before he turned a blind eye to bullying.

"Yeah," he responded. Danny cracked his neck, dropped his double-sided strap backpack (best birthday present ever), and stood up straighter, gaining another two inches on the girl. "I think we do."

The black girl folded her arms. "You're new to this school, right?" she asked. She nodded for him, already knowing as such, and continued, "Well, see that girl over there?" she jerked her thumb at Taylor, who was staring hard at the ground, trying not to let any emotions out. But Danny could see she was straining. He needed to intervene. 

"See, she's a tota‒" Whatever the girl was going to say next turned into an _"Oof!"_ as Danny pushed her to the side. He covered the distance between the himself and Taylor in just the long strides. Before the ginger girl could make some comment about Taylor's mom, Danny clapped a hand on the mouths of her and Madison, pushing them back. Not paying any attention to the girls picking themselves off the floor, Danny placed his hands on Taylor's shoulders, who looked up at him.

"Hey," Danny smiled. "You alright?"

Taylor looked up at him, and gave Danny a small smile, stained with sadness. She sniffed, and wiped off her glasses, and nodded. "Yeah, I'm better. Thanks."

Danny took a breath, ready to say something, but, was interrupted, as the tables have tabled, and he took an unexpected punch to the face. Taylor backed up, covering her gasping. He blinked, and looked up to see the black girl, shaking out her fist. She looked back at the other two bullies. "Go to lunch," she said, "I got this."

"'Kay Sophia," Madison said, and they both went off to get food.

Sophia. Okay. That gave Danny a name. Taylor looked at the two of them, before running off. The black girl glanced in her direction, legs tense and ready to give chase, but Danny wasn't going to let that happen.

"Sophia, was it?" Danny asked. The aforementioned teenager focused her attention back to him, who was getting off the ground, wiping off some spit from his mouth. "You got a mean right hook. Athlete?" he asked, putting up his fists.

"Yeah," she smirked, and threw another punch at Danny's face. He caught right hand and pulled her towards his body, lashing out with a kick towards her midsection. She grunted, catching it, and jerked her arm back. Danny, not expecting that, got carried along for the ride, and felt Sophia's skull crash into his own. Dizzy and unfocused, he didn't realize what was happening until he was on the ground, getting kicked in the stomach. Halfa biology meant that he wasn't remotely likely to get so much as bruised, but that didn't mean it didn't _hurt_.

"SOPHIA HESS!" yelled the voice of his would-be savior. Two heads swiveled in one direction, where a business-looking woman was angrily striding down the hall, Taylor following behind with a slow jog. "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?" she yelled again.

The woman was wearing business attire, with high heels, cold blue eyes, and stringy black hair leading down her back. She stopped in front of the two of them, Taylor slowing down to a halt. "Well?" the lady demanded again.

Danny saw fear and thoughts racing before her eyes, before she opened her mouth, "Sorry, Principal Blackwell," Sophia said. "I was just defending my friends."

"Defending your friends?" Blackwell parroted.

"Yeah," Sophia lied. "This new kid was picking on Emma and Madison, and I stepped in."

Blackwell raised an eyebrow, but Danny saw her shoulders slump a fraction, meaning she was giving in. A lot faster than someone normally would, he thought. "And where are your two friends?"

Sophia pointed in the direction of the cafeteria. "I told them to run and get lunch, and that I'd meet them after I taught _this kid_ -" Sophia nudged Danny with her foot, as he was just getting up off the ground.

"Then why did Taylor run and get the principal, if I'm the 'bully'?" Danny asked, fingers making air quotes around the word. Sophia shrugged a helpless shrug, but all four people present knew she wasn't helpless.

"Who knows?" Sophia shrugged. "She's the weird loner that has a vendetta against Emma since she learned the truth about Hebert: She's bad for everyone." Sophia's eyes were locked with Danny's when she said that last sentence, but he just rolled his own.

"Seeing as this is going nowhere," Danny said, "wanna grab some lunch, Taylor?"

"Sure," Taylor agreed. Danny guessed she knew where this conversation was going as she said, "Follow me. I know a place to sit." Danny jogged to catch up with Taylor, who was briskly walking the other way down the hall, slowing down to match her pace when he caught up. They were silent for a minute, twisting through the hallways and climbing stairs, before Taylor dropped to her knees. Danny kneeled, concerned for the girl, when she hugged him. Danny, surprised, awkwardly patted her on the back.

"Thank you," she mumbled, and Danny could hear her holding back tears. "You're the first person to stand up for me in months."

"No problem," he responded, returning the hug, tracing circles in her back with the palm of his hand. "Now, let's have some lunch."

 **[][][][][]**

"So I assume this happens often?"

The two of them were sitting against the wire fence surrounding the school – whether to keep intruders out or keep the kids in, Danny didn't know. Could've been either, really, but the barbed wire at the top really gave it away.

Taylor and Danny were leaning against the bottom of the fence, bottoms on the ground, legs crisscross in front of them. She was eating a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch, while he nibbled on a cereal bar. Halfa biology didn't require as much food as a normal person, so Danny didn't need to eat as much as others, unless he required energy to heal. Taylor, chewing the cheesy chum, wordlessly offered him a bit, but he turned it down. Finally, she swallowed her food and answered.

"About two years so far," she replied. After a deep breath verging on the territory of sighing, she continued, "Emma used to be my best friend; we were since we were kids. But then one day I come home from summer camp and she's hanging out with Sophia and completely dumped me. Now she spends all her free time in school bullying and torturing me, it seems like."

"Geez," Danny sympathized. He took another bite out of his cereal bar. "I mean, I've been bullied before by a jock for a few years, but that's nowhere as bad as that."

Taylor shrugged. "Yeah, it sucks. And since they're the popular trio and all, the teachers always take their side, or - at the very least - never try to take notice of it."

"Have you ever _tried_ telling the teachers before?" Danny questioned.

"Of course," she replied. "All that got _them_ was a warning, and it got _me_ a beating."

Danny watched as a small fly buzzed around them, before landing on Taylor's lunchbox. Before he could swat it away, Taylor reached out her hand and the fly crawled onto it. She sat there, dejected, staring at the insect like it held the answers to all her problems.

"Wow," Danny noted, "you seem pretty good with bugs."

Taylor looked towards him, and the fly took off from her hand. "Hm?" she asked. "Yeah, I guess I am."

An awkward silence fell between us, until I decided to speak up. "Well, I'm new in town and all" Danny said, "would you mind showing me around the town?"

Taylor stared at him, before smirking. "Danny Fenton," she admonished, "are you asking me out on a date?"

Danny's eyes comically widened as he started blabbing incoherent phrases, completely caught off-guard. Taylor's smirk was replaced by a wide smile as she giggled at his actions. "Just kidding," she reaffirmed him, getting him to calm down. "But sure, I'd love to. Not much I was planning on doing after school anyways."

"Cool," Danny smiled. Taylor shot him a smile back as the bell rang. Taylor picked up her stuff as he crammed the rest of the cereal bar in his mouth. "Meet me in front of the school after classes are over, okay?" Taylor said.

"Mm-hm!" Danny grunted, nodding his head. He didn't speak, not wanting to risk spraying his new friend with cereal bit and saliva.

"See you then, Danny!" Taylor said, and walked off, a spring in her step.

"Bye, Taylor!" the aforementioned teenager called back, and the two new friends walked in opposite directions for their next classes.

 **[][][][][]**

 **[A/N]: Ummm… hi?**

 ***dodges miscellaneous items***

 **I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I've just… had a lot of stuff going on with me. High school drama, writer's block, the fourth quarter of my Junior year, AP classes, late grades, and so much more… it was just impossible to stay on top of it all. It** _ **still**_ **is, to be honest. I've been writing this story whenever I can, and I can only give great thanks to** _ **Mysterymuffin2**_ **for keeping up with my sorry ass.**

 **I've got plans for this story, and I desperately want to see them fulfilled. I want to prove to myself that I can do something I set my mind to. The favorites and follows and reviews are honestly heartwarming and mind-blowing. I could never thank you all enough for your support of this FanFiction.**

 **Special thanks to** _ **The Literary Lord**_ **for needling me, as well as providing me with knowledge of Butch Hartman's YouTube channel. Perfect for finding out about the canon things of Danny Phantom.**

 **But yeah, anyways, this whole week is my Spring Break, so I have hours of free time! I can't wait to get back into this! I promise, the next chapter will be longer than this!**

 **Thanks for all the love, criticism, and Phans of this work!**

 **~Slenderbrine**


	4. Haunt 1-4

**Haunt 1.4**

 _Brrrrrring!_

Daniel "Danny" Jackson Fenton could move to a thousand different schools, and he was certain that the reaction of the students to the final bell of the day would always be roughly the same: a spontaneous rush of students, shooting from desk to door at the first sound of the bell. Chatter erupted in the classroom, as well as throughout the school, as hundreds of teenaged voices, ranging from squeaky soprano of the late bloomers to the deep, resonating bases of developed jocks. The scratching of backpacks and clothing added to the chaos, a chaos that Danny took advantage of to slip through the crowd, giving a respectful nod to Mr. Jared, the ginger chemistry teacher on his way out, who returned the gesture with a smile stacked onto it.

Danny let himself get carried away by the flow of students, trusting them all to be anxious enough to unknowingly guide him to the school entrance. Danny walked on, enclosed by other students, so he didn't have to actively avoid looking at the other gang members. As a result of this being a new school ‒ new social circles, new life, new _everything_ ‒ he didn't try to hide his lean muscles. However, that ended up attracting attention, mostly from the Asians and some tough-looking white kids. The ABB and E88.

Finally, after a few minutes of shoving, mixed paces, and the urge to turn invisible/intangible and walk through everyone, Danny finally got ejected into the outside world. Danny looked over the sea of random, chattering students before locating Taylor at the front entrance. Taylor also, miraculously, spotted him as well, and waved a thin, gangly arm.

He waved back to her and walked in her direction. "Hey," Danny greeted her as he approached her. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," she said, giving a shrug. "No one else to really say my goodbyes to, so let's go." Taylor turned and walked towards the gates, Danny trailing behind her. They exited the school grounds before someone shouted behind them, "Hey, Fenton!"

Taylor and Danny stopped, turning around. Danny almost expected a blonde footballer with a Latina girl hanging off his arm, before remembering none of the Amity families were sent to the same city.

Well, he was half right. There stood a tall, buff white guy with blonde hair and blue eyes. Hanging off this guys arm was another white girl with blonde hair, and a group of guys stood behind him - some of them with tattoos and many with shaven heads.

 _'Empire 88,'_ Danny thought, recalling Tucker's briefing.

"Give me a sec," he said to Taylor. Catching the worried look on her face, he reassured her, "I'm not gonna join any neo-Nazi gangs. I'm just gonna see what they want."

He walked casually over the group of skinheads, taking note of what they had on them. Two had long, oval bulges in their pockets, most likely Swiss army knives. Another had knuckledusters clutched in his hands. The girl was unarmed, and the guy that called him over was as well, but made up for it in sheer muscle mass.

"Heard whatcha did to the black bitch," he grunted.

Danny shrugged, dismissing it, "I was just defending a friend."

The neo-Nazi nodded deeply, as if Danny had just quoted some wise proverb. "I get that," he said. "If you ever want to make sure your friend stays safe from the bitch, ask for me, 'kay?"

Danny nodded, promising himself he wouldn't take up that offer. "And who do I ask for?"

"Sam Lang," he grinned. "See you around, Fenton." Sam and his girlfriend began walking away, prompting the other members of the gang to follow suit.

"What was that?" Taylor asked as Danny walked back. He shrugged, "Some Empire 88 kids heard I punched Sophia and extended an invite."

She shot him a worried look, but Danny waved her off. "I'm not going to take it, don't worry," he said, alleviating her fears. "So, you were going to show me around the town?"

His friend nodded. "Yeah," she confirmed. "Let's go."

[][][][][]

One bus ride and a bit of walking later, they arrived at the Lord Street Market. 'Or just _the Market_ , as most Brocktonites call it,' Taylor had said. It was like a bazaar, an open air mall with vendors and stalls all around. There were people selling trinkets and pets and food and anything else you could think of. But Taylor's final destination was restaraunt on the very edge of the Market, called _Fugly Bob's_. Yeah. That's its real name.

It wasn't completely a restaurant, more like half of one, the other half being a bar. They went in and got a table for two. Taylor ordered a Hideous Bob and Danny got a bacon cheeseburger (doing Tucker proud). It wasn't until we started eating that the conversation went from "How are you liking Brockton Bay?" to more personal questions.

"So where did you live that you've never heard of capes?" Taylor asked, taking a sip of ice water. "Every third world country has heard of capes and Endbringers and Scion. What town did you live in?"

Dannyshrugged, formulating a response that made somewhat sense. "I lived in a town that had relations and some connection to a branch of the military and government. They limited the news and information that came in and out of the town, so I guess they didn't let anything cape-related in," he said, biting into the greasy burger. There was so much grease, you could probably light it on fire and get an impromptu molotov cocktail.

Taylor raised her eyebrows, eyes widening in surprise. "Really?" she asked, surprised. I guess that doesn't happen often, even in this superhero world. "What were they doing?"

"Testing equipment to see if they could access other dimensions," he said. That was the truth, just not the whole truth. Besides, she probably wouldn't believe me if I said they were trying to access a dimension of posthumous entities, even if the contract from Operation Crypt allowed me to say it.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "Like Professor Haywire?"

"Yeah," Danny lied through my teeth. He had no idea who that was. He made a mental reminder to look up the name later. Anyways, this was getting a little too close to things he couldn't safely talk about. He turned swiftly changed the direction of the conversation, "So what's your family like?"

Instant regret. That's what he felt, seeing her shoulders droop and eyes shift anywhere but on him. "It's just… me and my dad, really," she shrugged. Danny could probably be able to feel to waves of stirred up memories even if he wasn't half ghost. "Dad's the head of the Dock Workers' Union, so he's always really busy, but he makes time for me. Mom got in a car crash a while ago."

That went in the worst possible direction. He had felt the depression of losing a family, even if for a second. It was quickly undone by Clockwork, but to feel it for just a second was absolutely soul-breaking. _'How long had she been feeling that way?'_ Danny wondered. _'Too long, definitely.'_

He decided to turn the conversation back to myself, to try and dispel the dark mood that had befell our conversation. "Well, to be fair, I don't see much of my own family," Danny said, catching Taylor's attention and pulling her out of her thoughts. "Mom and dad are freelancer inventors, so they're currently working with the government to make equipment that'll allow normal police officers and government agents stand toe-to-toe with things more powerful than they can normally handle. My sister is also away from home at the moment, going to Harvard to become a psychologist, so I only occasionally get to see her. At the moment, I'm all by myself."

Taylor quirked an eyebrow, "So you live all by yourself? Must get pretty lonely."

He shrugged and took a slurp of his drink. "Sometimes, yeah," he admitted. "But I video chat my best friends from my old town every night, so it's not all bad."

Taylor nodded, letting out a small burp. She flushed, covering her mouth. Danny smirked, "Excuse you."

He reached down to his burger to take another bite, only to realize he already ate the entire thing. Gathering his paper together, he asked, "Ready to go?" to which Taylor nodded.

Disposing of their trash, the two of them made their way out of Fugly Bob's and out into the open air of the Market. Taylor stretched her arms, commenting, "I had fun today."

"Me too," Danny agreed. "See you at school tomorrow?"

Taylor smiled. "Sure thing."

 **[][][][][]**

"We have a problem."

"What is it?"

"There's a new anomaly. A blind spot in the Path to Victory."

"What!? Aren't your only blindspots-"

"-David, the Endbringers, and Scion himself, yes."

"Well, who is it?"

"I'm not sure. The entire city of Brockton Bay has become fuzzy to me, and the Path is confused."

"What should we do?"

"Continue as planned. Brockton Bay does not involve the plan for a few months."

"Hm. Alexandria?"

"Yes?"

"Offer our most recent member of Cauldron if he would be willing to keep an eye out for anything that seems powerful enough to be a blindspot to Contessa."

"Of course, Doctor Mother."

 **[][][][][]**

 **[A/N]: So… been a while, huh?**

 **There have been a number of Author's Notes that have been deleted, reworked, and deleted again. Procrastination, stumps, drama, and slumps… I've been through it all. I don't want to give this story up, and I'm doing by damned best to not let it die.**

 **Recently, my sleepy little town has gone through a dark time and, somewhat unsurprisingly, it's given me the motivation to work on the crossover with the dark web serial. Heh. Good things coming from bad things.**

 **Well, I'll try to update more often. Hopefully. Won't make promises I can't keep, though.**

 **~Slenderbrine**

 **PS: I normally would never use racist terms in a fic, but it's Worm, so if you don't like those word, I suggest just skipping a few lines ahead.**


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